Now the story is coming out – some of the biggest payers of the Affordable Card Act are state and federal governments; taxpayer money going back into the ACA Health Insurer Fees. See this posting in USA Today by Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News for the details: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/30/obamacare-tax-healthcare-taxpayers-eight-billion/14861405/ The problem is that the money was going to have to come from somewhere; with health insurers, hospitals, device makers and pharmaceutical companies required to share in the cost because of new business, there is still a shortfall. So far not enough young healthy people have bought insurance to help pay the costs of the older people with more health problems, and the medicare tax increases on wealthier taxpayers haven’t closed the gap enough, so we get to zero out the shortfall. The worst part is, this problem may get worse over time, not better. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
CPA Tax Musings: Tax-Smart Philanthropy Made Easy
Charitable gift trusts and donor advised gift funds are a great way to get a current tax deduction while postphoning what charity the gift goes to, while the money grows tax free until the donation is made. See this posting in The Wall Street Journal by Laura Saunders for the details: http://online.wsj.com/articles/tax-smart-philanthropy-made-easy-1408728248 Higher income investors have used these funds and trusts for a long time to reap the benefits of a private charitable foundation without the expenses and hassles, and now the smaller income people can use these funds, with $50 dollar minimum investments making them accessable to almost anyone. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Financial Musings of a Burbank CPA: Time to get rid of all those 401(k) plans
There have been many attempts to restructure 401K plans, to make them better. Now there is a plan to get rid of them altogether, to replace them with a single defined contribution plan. See this article in MarketWatch by Robert Powell in the Wall Street Journal post about the plan proposed by Russell “Rusty” Olson and Douglas Phillips: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/time-to-get-rid-of-all-those-401k-plans-2014-08-28?page=1 Would this consolidated plan be another major government bureaucracy or would it actually accomplish the job of consolidating and streamlining the company defined contribution system? I am curious to see if such a plan would ever show up anywhere but in academic papers, like this one. With Congress so divided on everything, getting this passed seems like a dream. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa